Taunton's very own October Drift are moving towards the pinnacle of pop success

For those who are keen to know about Continental Drift it ‘is the movement of the Earth’s continents relative to each other, thus appearing to “drift” across the ocean bed’.

Exciting stuff, but Taunton has what can be classed as October Drift but this is a pop phenomenon It produces a musical sound which starts with a murmur and climaxes to a crescendo ending in a wall of sound.

The quartet who are all from Taunton and for those who do not know are Kiran Roy (vocals, guitar), Chris Holmes (drums), Alex Bipsham (bass) and Daniel Young (guitar).

They have in the words of Chris Holmes their drummer ‘known each other since they were in nappies’.

As a group they are producing a sound and a style which is catching the ears of fans up and down the country.

The group who are unsigned are creating musical waves and this summer appeared on the John Peel stage at Glastonbury.

As well as this they have played major festivals and gigged in venues in London, Glasgow, Manchester, Sheffield to name a few and in Europe have been on stage in Berlin, Munich, Cologne and Warsaw.

They are constantly touring but at this present moment in time unlike many other rock ‘n’ roll bands they have not yet given up their day jobs - which is very un-rock ‘n’ roll.

This indie band could in musical terms be the ‘next big thing’ but the trouble is while they have been discovered by their fans they have yet to be discovered by a major record label.

Taking a close look at the band, Drummer Chris Holmes explained more about their creative process and what they hoped to achieve as a group.

Chris said: “I feel there are two different personalities of the band, one on stage and one off.

“On stage we are very aggressive in so far we have an in your face writing style. But it is honest and while some people say our music is sombre we do not see it like that as we feel we play sonic music.

“What is our sound of our group?

“Oh man, that is such a hard question as we struggle to put ourselves in a pigeon hole.

“You could describe it as dark punk, post punk or alternative reminiscent of a 1980s band but with a modern influence.”

They have done some cover songs which have included Back to Black made famous by Amy Winehouse and Atmosphere by Joy Division.

Taking about these two songs, Chris said: “That song (Atmosphere) came about when we were in the studio. We are really big fans of Joy Division and we had an end of tour gig coming up in Sheffield and we wanted to do something of theirs, something a little different.

“Hence one of the descriptions of our sound has been Joy Division but with fuzz pedals.

“We like to take a song like a cover and try and make it stylistically fit into our sound and spin it from there.

“Johnny Cash did a great album full of covers where he took the songs, made them sound like him even if they were not associated with him.

“We have only ever done two covers this one (Atmosphere) and Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black. That turned out to be very difficult to get right and we have never played it live.

“When we had finished it we were not sure if we had murdered a classic. But the feedback from fans was it was great.”

The band do not rely on covers as they write their own material which includes songs like Losing my Touch, Cinnamon Girl, Still Here, Lost and Whoever (which was the first song they ever recorded).

Talking about the creative process, Chris said: “What surprises us about our music is this.

“We got into the studio with little ideas and we join them up.

“We are heavily critical of what we write and a number of songs have been scrapped and will never see the light of day as they were awful.

“So what we have is a jumble of ideas and what surprises me is how this jumble comes together to form a new song.

“The first song we recorded was Whoever in 2015.

“What it taught us is no song has one meaning.

“Kiran (lead singer) writes the majority of the lyrics of our songs and writes then like poetry.

“We have always shy away from any meaning as we like people to interoperate then how they think.

“If we give them a definitive meaning then it changes how they saw or see the song.

“We do not mind if a song is not crystal clear.”

Whoever is a song about predetermination and how what you could do to change your path, your future but you still do not know the outcome which ever way you turn.

While Losing my Touch is about looking at a band who only reach a certain level of success but keep on going into old age.

It is about what path they took and what they wanted to do - You have to pick the way you want to go.

Chris said: “I think the most important thing for us as a band is the output. There is no use second guessing an audience. You have to wrote what you want and make the music you want and if they like it all well and good.

“We have got a lotta stuff from other musicians both individually and as a group.

“Kiran used to grow up listening to Leonard Cohen or Nick Drake and maybe they have had an influenced in the type of lyrics which he has written.

“We all have different tastes in music and all like 1990s band such as The Smashing Pumpkins or My Bloody Valentine.”

If you watch Kiran play his guitar which is held high on his chest nearly under his chin, you might think about two people.

One could be Alex Turner, lead singer of the Arctic Monkeys of the legendary Wilko Johnson who formed and integral part of Dr Feelgood in the late 1970s/early 1980s.

In the way Wilko played his guitar, Kiran plays it strapped to his chest, close to his heart shooting out the notes like a machine gun.

It is more of weapon rather than a guitar.

The group do not write when they are on the road.

When they are touring they concentrate on the tour and only start thinking about writing when they are back in the studio for a month.

They like to keep the writing process as fresh as possible, making it natural and not trying to force it to happen.

Wherever they go the band carries Taunton with them as they call went to Castle School but not its music scene which Chris feels in non-existent.

He said: “Taunton does not really have a music scene where people can see regular gigs at a regular venue.

“In order for us to improve we had to go further away from Taunton to Bristol.

“Maybe if you had grown up in Manchester you could a sound like Oasis or The Stone Roses or in Sheffield it could have been like Pulp or Arctic Monkeys.

“Taunton isn’t best known for its’ music heritage.

“Your tastes in music does change. When we were 13/14 we listened to classic rock and gradually changed the style of playing.

“We have been writing with October Drift since we were 14-years-old , infact we have known each other since we were in our nappies.

“When we went into the studio in 2014 as October Drift we knew what we wanted and our sound appeared.

“Getting into the music industry is very difficult as you are either making a lot of money or loosing a lot of money.

“We are in between all this as we have not record deal we are touring and are playing the big stages such as The John Peel Stage at Glastonbury in the summer.

“When we played there 2,000 people came to see us but 24 hours after that we were all back to the day job.

“It is a little difficult going back to a job after that but you know by doing it then it allows you to be on stage.

“How I look at it all depends what frame of mind I am in.

“What we all want to do is be in a position where we can quit the day job and concentrate full time on the music and get a record label running after us- That is the key.

“Our fans expect us to give 100 per cent on stage and if we do not they would not be happy.

“I would not be happy if I went to see a band and they gave less than 100 per cent.”

- October Drift will be playing their first home town gig in Taunton for two years on December 20.

They are doing a special Christmas gig at The Bierkeller in town.